Cargo bins, tool baskets or the like are commonly used in servicing the oil industry to convey materials, tools, and supplies to rigs or the like. Crew boats and drilling rigs have very limited space, so it is important that the cargo bin take only as much space as is required to securely and safely convey the contents. As there are a varied array of possible configurations for the items being transported, it is also advantageous to be able to modify a cargo bin to accommodate the various cargo, so as to maximize flexibility of use.
In the past, cargo bins or the like have been designed with knock down walls to make the unit collapsible for enhanced storage. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,285.
Other cargo bins have been formed so as to be able to be joined into a single, extended unit, such as that shown in the cargo containers of U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,134.
Published patent applications US2005/0058532 and 2006/0032850 teach extendable shipping baskets or the like wherein extended end units engage a central modular unit in socketed fashion, via a pair of upper and lower extension pieces which require relatively precise alignment and simultaneous positioning to engage the unit, which could prove problematic in view of the substantial weight and size of these units.